Jim Bletner

865-523-9150

3819 Glenfield Drive
Knoxville, TN 37919
jbletner@utk.edu  

Bletner was nominated by the Kingston Pike Sequoyah Hills Neighborhood Association, of which he is past president. Bletner has worked with KUB to resolve tree issues in the past and, because of his work, KUB’s Special Status Trees policy was established.

Cindy Bradley

TreePanel@kub.org  

Cindy is a long-time resident of Fountain City, is the owner and principal broker of Signature Homes. She has been a real estate agent in Knoxville since 1982. She has served on the Knox County Tax Equalization Board and the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

Dwain Burke

TreePanel@kub.org  

Dwain is a member of the Union County Chamber of Commerce and the Union County Joint Economic and Community Development Board. He describes himself as someone who places great importance on environmental aesthetics and who takes pride in landscaping and beautifying his yard. He said that he believes tree work is necessary for KUB to ensure the safety and reliability of its electric lines, but that it is also important to properly care for the trees and preserve their healthy re-growth whenever possible, while being sensitive to customer aesthetic and preservation concerns.

Jennifer Gihring

TreePanel@kub.org  

Jennifer is a research associate for the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture’s Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Department. Before moving to Knoxville, she chaired a similar panel in Tallahassee, Florida, where she successfully promoted a balance between maintaining a healthy tree canopy, cost-effective management, and private property rights.

Sara Hedstrom

TreePanel@kub.org  

Sara is a landscape architect who lives in the area designated as “downtown North.” She earned a landscape architecture degree in 1996 and worked for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's public landscapes division. She moved to Knoxville in 2003, and in 2007 opened her own firm, Hedstrom Design. She has served on the boards for East Tennessee Quality Growth, the East Tennessee chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Tennessee Roadscapes Advisory Committee, and currently serves on the City of Knoxville Tree Board.

Randy Humble

P.O. Box 2775
Knoxville, TN 37901
rhtlaw1@aol.com  

Randy is an attorney who lives in the Lakemoor Hills area of Knox County. He is past president of the local chapter of the Sierra Club and a member of the Knox Greenway Coalition. He said in his application he considers himself an environmentalist and a conservationist.

Doug Irwin

TreePanel@kub.org  

Doug is a local real estate developer. He was formerly the general manager of the Northeast Knox Utility District, and has served as the Past Chairman of the St. Mary's Foundation, Past President of the Powell Lions Club, and as Past President of the Knoxville Apartment Council. He has also served on the board of the Halls Business and Professional Association.

Montina Jones

TreePanel@kub.org  

Montina is a long-time educator and senior advisor for high-needs schools for the Knox County school system. She is an alumna of Leadership Education and Leadership Knoxville, and serves as a member of the Project GRAD board of Directors. In 2003, she was named Tennessee Principal of the Year.

Brenda Palmer

865-951-1546
7816 Ellisville Lane
Knoxville, TN 37909
bpalmer@cityofKnoxville.org  

Brenda is a retired high school teacher and administrator serving on the City Council for the 3rd District. She has a bachelor's degree in history from Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, and a master's degree in history education from the University of San Diego. She has 30 years of experience in education. She has lived in Knoxville since 2003, and has served as an alternate on the Knox County Tax Equalization Board.

Barbara Pelot

8437 Corteland Drive
Knoxville, TN 37909
rpelot3@aol.com

Barbara is a former Knoxville City Councilman and an active member of the West Hills Neighborhood Association. She has often provided KUB with input on its tree trim program and has offered many suggested improvements over the past several years.

Scott Romines

808 Lake Glen Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37920
Scott@delta-group.com  

Scott is a resident of the Lake Forest community in South Knoxville, is a business executive described in his nomination form as “someone who can see every perspective” and “will be scrupulously fair to one and all.” His company is Delta Group, LLC.

Jamie Rowe

865-688-9525
4215 Tazewell Pike
Knoxville, TN 37918
ombroligo@aol.com  

Larry Silverstein

Larry is a native Knoxvillian, is active in the West Hills Community Association and Community Forum. He holds B.S. and MBA degrees in Finance and a J.D. from the University of Tennessee, has been a licensed attorney in the State of Tennessee since 1981 and is a member of the Knoxville and Tennessee Bar Associations.

David Vandergriff

865-215-2340
400 W. Main Street, Suite 560 Knoxville, TN 37902 dgriff@tennessee.edu  

David is a University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension agent who is also a member of the City Tree Board. He has been a certified arborist since 1994 and is a certified tree worker evaluator, certified arborist proctor and past president of ISA Southern Chapter and Tennessee Urban Forestry Council. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in ornamental horticulture and landscape design from the University of Tennessee. He is former president of Cedar Crossing Homeowners Association.

Luis Velazquez

TreePanel@kub.org  

Luis is founder and president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. A civil engineer, he worked for 26 years for the federal government in various agencies before retiring from the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge.

Bill Elmore

865-594-7531
Knoxville Utilities Board
P.O. Box 59017
Knoxville, TN 37950-9017
elmore@kub.org